Review: In a First, Gay Rights are Pressed at the U.N., by Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times; Obama Selects California Evangelist for Invocation at His
Inaguration, by Katherine
Q Seelye, New York Times.

Norms and standards of
human rights have been challenged in the past year and most recently by several
U.N.MemberStates
and U.N. permanent missions representing religious institutions. The challenge
is over foundational principles that cannot be compromised under the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights; individual choice, freedom of opinion and
expression and freedom of religion or belief.

These serious issues are confronting the United
Nations on the intent of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; they must
be reconciled without cultural compromise in order to move forward with
international human rights instruments that promote tolerance and prevent
discrimination based on religion or belief.

Now is the time to
re-constitute the U.N. Working Group on religious intolerance, deferred since
1968 because of the sensitivity and complexity of the issue. Such a U.N.
Working Group would build on the non-derogating Article 18 of the ICCPR and
1981 U.N. Declaration and draft a new International Convention on Freedom of
Religion or Belief. The Working Group under the U.N. Human Rights Council
should be an inclusive, openly transparent international universal forum for
discussion of all matters relating to human rights and freedom of religion or
belief.

President-elect Barrack
Obama’s administration and his U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations will have
an opportunity to demonstrate their worldview on foreign policy and human
rights. Will this include support for International Human Rights Standards on
Freedom of Religion or Belief?

Excerpt: Gay Rights a First at
the United Nations

An unprecedented declaration seeking to decriminalize
homosexuality won the support of 66 countries in the United Nations General
Assembly on Thursday, but opponents criticized it as an attempt to legitimize
pedophilia and other deplorable acts.

The United
States refused to support the nonbinding
measure, as did Russia,
China,
the Roman Catholic Church and members of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference. The Holy See’s observer mission issued a statement saying that the
declaration “challenges existing human rights norms.”

Navanethem Pillay, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, “speaking by video telephone, said that just
like apartheid laws that criminalized sexual relations between different races,
laws against homosexuality ‘are increasingly becoming recognized as anachronistic
and as inconsistent both with international law and with traditional values of
dignity, inclusion and respect for all.

Excerpt: Obama Selects California Evangelist
for Inaugural Invocation

The choice of Mr. Warren, pastor of a mega-church in Orange
Country, Calif.,
is an olive branch to conservative Christian evangelicals. Mr. Warren is an
outspoken opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage – litmus test issues for
Christian conservatives. In fact, his selection set off a round of criticism by
gay rights groups angered by his support for California’s ban on same-sex marriages.

President-elect Obama in discussing the invitation to
Rev. Warren to give the invocation says they are not in agreement on many
issues but defends his invitation as a symbol of what his campaign for the
presidency was all about, reaching out to people of all religious and
non-religious beliefs in a spirit of friendship and the common good.

Rev. Warren for his part has reached out to
evangelicals to encourage cooperation on issues that they hold in common with
all people of good will. He has been one of the most prominent evangelical
leaders calling for Christians to expand their agenda and confront global
problems like poverty, the environment, AIDS, climate change and genocide in Darfur.

While this is a laudable mission, Rev. Warren falls
far short of the inclusiveness and genuine dialogue called for by the United
Nations. He opposes same-sex marriage, abortion, stem cell research and support
for family planning clinics in Africa that
call for sex education, distribution of condoms and clean needles to prevent
AIDS.

He has taken his popular
best selling book, A Purpose Driven Life
global expanding programs in many parts of the world. Questions of
evangelizing, acknowledged as a human right of expression is a sensitive topic
on how it is done in many parts of the world. The challenge for evangelicals is
to understand and find ways to support human rights as universal, that APurpose Driven Life
may also be the mission of atheists and agnostics, protected under Article 18
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which equally
protects all theistic, non-theistic and atheistic
beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief.

President-elect Barack Obama will “set the tone for
his administration” in his inaugural address. He may cite his worldview on such
issues as Separation of Church and State and his international framework for
foreign policy issues pertaining to “other”
religions or beliefs. A National Report written by United States of America for the
Universal Periodic Review will be presented before the U.N. Council on Human
Rights in 2010.

Excerpts: Excerpts are presented under the Eight Articles of
the 1981 U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Examples of extracts are presented
prior to an Issue Statement for each Review.

1. 1Everyone shall have the
right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include
freedom to have a religion or whatever belief of his choice, and freedom,
either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to
manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.

1. 2. No one shall be subject to
coercion which would impair his freedom to have a religion or belief of his
choice.

1. 3Freedom to manifest one’s
religion or belief may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by
law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, morals or the
fundamental rights and freedoms of others.

7. 1The rights and freedoms
set forth in the present Declaration shall be accorded in national legislation
in such a manner that everyone shall be able to avail himself of such rights
and freedoms in practice.

IN A
FIRST, GAY RIGHTS ARE PRESSED AT THE U.N.

By Neil Macfarquhar, New
York Times

UNITED NATIONS An unprecedented declaration
seeking to decriminalize homosexualitywon the support of 66 countries in the United Nations General Assembly
on Thursday, but opponents criticized it as an attempt to legitimize pedophilia
and other ‘deplorable acts.’

The United States refused to support
the nonbinding measure, as did Russia,
China,
the Roman Catholic Church and members of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference. The Holy See’s Observer mission issued a statement saying that the
declaration ‘challenges existing human rights norms.’

The declaration, sponsored by France with
broad support in Europe and Latin
America, condemned human rights violations based on homophobia,
saying such measures run counter to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“How can we tolerate the fact that people are
stoned, hanged, decapitated and tortured only because of their sexual
orientation?” said Rama Yade, the French state secretary for human rights,
noting that homosexuality is banned in nearly 80 countries and subject to the
death penalty in at least six.

France decided to use the format of a
declaration because it did not have the support for an official resolution.
Read out by Ambassador Jorge Arguello of Argentina, the declaration was the first
on gay rights read in the 192 member General Assembly itself.

Although laws against homosexuality are
concentrated in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, more than one speaker
addressing a separate conference on the declaration noted that the laws stemmed
as much from the British colonial past as from religion or tradition.

Navanethem Pillay, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, “speaking by video telephone, said that just
like apartheid laws that criminalized sexual relations between different races,
laws against homosexuality ‘are increasingly becoming recognized as
anachronistic and as inconsistent both with international law and with
traditional values of dignity, inclusion and respect for all.”

The opposing statement read in the General
Assembly, supported by nearly 60 nations, rejected the idea that sexual
orientation was a matter of genetic coding. The statement. led by the
Organization of the Islamic Conference, said the effort threatened to
undermined the international framework of human rights by trying to normalize
pedophilia, among other acts.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference also
failed in a last minute attempt to alter a formal resolution that Sweden
sponsored by condemning summary executions. It sought to have the words “sexual
orientation” deleted as one of the central reasons for such killings.

Ms. Yade and the Dutch foreign minister, Maxime
Verhagen, told a news conference that they were “disappointed” that the United States
failed to support the declaration. Human rights activists went further. “The
Bush administration is trying to come up with Christmas presents for the
religious right so it will be remembered, said Scott Long, a director at Human
Rights Watch.

The official American position was based on highly
technical legal grounds. The text, by using terminology like “without
distinction of any kind,” was too broad because it might be interpreted as an
attempt by the federal government to override states’ rights on issues like gay
marriage, American diplomats and legal experts said.

“We are opposed to any discrimination, legally or
politically, but the nature of our federal system prevents us from undertaking
commitments and engagements where federal authorities don’t have jurisdiction,”
said Alejandro d. Wolff, the deputy permanent representative.

Gay rights advocates brought to the conference
from around the world by France said just having the taboo broken on discussing
the topic at the United Nations would aid their battles at home. “People in Africa can have hope that someone is speaking for them,”
said the Rev. Jide Macaulay of Nigeria.

OBAMA
SELECTS CALIFORNIA
EVANGELIST FOR INVOCATION

By Katherine Q Seelye,
New York Times

Barack Obama has selected the Rev. Rick Warren,
the evangelist pastor and author of “The Purpose Driven Life,” to deliver the
invocation at his inauguration, a role that positions Mr. Warren to succeed
Billy Graham as the nation’s pre-eminent minister and reflects the generational
changes in the evangelical Christian movement.

Inauguration programs follow a traditional outline
but also allow a president-elect to put his stamp on the proceedings and set
the tone for his administration.

The choice of Mr. Warren, pastor of a mega-church
in Orange Country, Calif., is an olive branch to conservative
Christian evangelicals. Mr. Warren is an outspoken opponent of abortion and
same-sex marriage – litmus – test issues for Christian conservatives. In fact,
his selection set off a round of criticism by gay rights groups angered by his
support for California’s
ban on same-sex marriages.

But Mr. Warren has also been one of the most
prominent evangelical leaders calling for Christians to expand their agenda and
confront global problems like poverty, AIDS, climate change and genocide in Darfur.

Mr. Warren flaunted his clout this year when he
managed to draw both John McCain and Barack Obama to his SaddlebackChurch
for a forum in which he interviewed them on stage about faith issues. He has
sometimes angered the older generation of conservative evangelical leaders
aligned with the Republican Party, as when he invited Mr. Obama to speak about
AIDS at an earlier event in his church.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. will administer
the oath of office to Mr. Obama, who will then deliver his inaugural address.

Mr. Obama has asked the Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery,
co-founder with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference to deliver the benediction. The ceremony will close with
the Sea Chanters of the United
States Navy Band singing the National
Anthem.

OBAMA’S
CHOICE OF PASTOR CREATES A FUROR

By Jeff Zeleny and David
Kirkpatrick, New York Times

Mr. Obama’s forceful defense of Mr. Warren, the
author of The Purpose Driven Life, has signaled
his intent to continue his campaign’s effort to woo even theologically
conservative Christians.

V. Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Bishop of New
Hampshire, whose consecration cause a painful divide in his church because he
is openly gay, said that when he heard about the selection of Mr. Warren, “it
was like a slap in the face.”

“I’m all for Rick Warren being at the table,”
Bishop Robinson said, “but we’re not talking about a discussion, we’re talking
about putting someone up front and center at what will be the most watched
inauguration in history, and asking his blessing on the nation. And the God
that he’s praying to is not the God that I know.”

Richard Socarides, who was a special assistant to
President Bill Clinton in charge of gay and lesbian policies, said the
disappointment among gay –rights supporters over Proposition 8 made Mr. Warren
even more difficult to understand. He called it a serious miscalculation that
will anger a lot of people and will be hard to undo.”

“It’s not like he’s introducing Obama at some
campaign rally in the South,” Mr. Socarides said. “He’s been given this very
prominent, central role in the ceremony which is supposed to usher in a new
civil rights era.”

ISSUE STATEMENT: The United Nations mandate is equal, fair and
practical support for all theistic, non-theistic and
atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief.

International Human Rights Standards on Freedom of
Religion or Belief are international law and universal codes of conduct for
peaceful cooperation, respectful competition and resolution of conflicts. The
standards are a platform for inclusive and genuine dialogue on core principles
and values within and among nations, all religions and other beliefs.

As we are all painfully
aware, religious conflict continues to escalate worldwide. Acceptance of the
rights of others to their own beliefs continues to be a value denied for
millions of people. Much suffering is inflicted in the name of religion or
belief on minorities, women and children and “the other” for the most part by
perpetrators in total disregard for the tenets of their own faiths.

Surely one of the best hopes for humankind is to embrace
a culture in which religions and other beliefs accept one another, in which
wars and violence are not tolerated in the name of an exclusive right to truth,
in which children are raised to solve conflicts with mediation, compassion and
understanding.

Submit information under the Eight Articles and
sub-paragraphs of the 1981 U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of
Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief by using The Tandem
Project Country & Community Database.

The Tandem Project: a non-governmental organization founded
in 1986 to build understanding, tolerance and respect for diversity, and to
prevent discrimination in matters relating to freedom of religion or belief.
The Tandem Project, a non-profit NGO, has sponsored multiple conferences,
curricula, reference materials and programs on Article 18 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – Everyone shall have the right to
freedom of thought, conscience and religion - and 1981 United Nations
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination
Based on Religion or Belief.

The Tandem Project
initiative is the result of a co-founder representing the World Federation of
United Nations Associations at the United Nations Geneva Seminar, Encouragement ofUnderstanding, Tolerance
and Respect in Matters Relating to Freedom of Religion or Belief,
called by the UN Secretariat in 1984 on ways to implement the 1981 UN
Declaration. In 1986, The Tandem Project organized the first NGO International
Conference on the 1981 UN Declaration.

The Tandem Project is a UN NGO in
Special Consultative Status with the

Economic and Social Council of
the United Nations

_________________________________________

Separation of Religion or Belief
and State

The Tandem Project Concept: Separation
of Religion or Belief and State (SOROBAS) supports
the U.N. Human Rights Council by monitoring implementation of the 1981 U.N.
Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. The Tandem Project uses
international human rights law to review the actions of governments, religions
or beliefs, non-governmental organizations and civil society living under
separation of church and state, state church, theocratic and other legal
frameworks. The concept is equal, fair and practical support for all theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not
to profess any religion or belief, in tandem with the rule of law
and international human rights standards on freedom of religion or belief.

The Tandem Project
Objectives: (1) Use International Human Rights Standards on Freedom of Religion
or Belief as a platform for genuine dialogue on the core principles and values
within and among nations, all religions and other beliefs. (2) Adapt these
human rights standards to early childhood education, teaching children, from
the very beginning, that their own religion is one out of many and that it is a
personal choice for everyone to adhere to the religion or belief by which he or
she feels most inspired, or to adhere to no religion or belief at all.1

Surely one of the best hopes for the future of
humankind is to embrace a culture in which religions and other beliefs accept one
another, in which wars and violence are not tolerated in the name of an
exclusive right to truth, in which children are raised to solve conflicts with
mediation, compassion and understanding.

Purpose: Build understanding and support for
Article 18, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights –Everyone
shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion - and the
1981 UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Encourage the United Nations,
Governments, Religions or Beliefs, Academia, NGOs, Media and Civil Society to
consider the rule of law and International Human Rights Standards on Freedom of
Religion or Belief as essential for long-term solutions
to conflicts in matters relating to religion or belief.

Challenge: In 1968 the United Nations deferred work on an
International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Religious
Intolerance, because of its apparent complexity and sensitivity. In the
twenty-first century, a dramatic increase of intolerance and discrimination on
grounds of religion or belief is motivating a worldwide search to find
solutions to these problems. This is a challenge calling for enhanced dialogue
by States and others; including consideration of an International Convention on
Freedom of Religion or Belief for protection of and accountability by all
religions or beliefs. The tensions in today’s world inspire a question such as:

Should the United Nations
adopt an International Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief?

Response: Is it the appropriate moment to
reinitiate the drafting of a legally binding international convention on
freedom of religion or belief? Law making of this nature requires a minimum
consensus and an environment that appeals to reason rather than emotions. At
the same time we are on a learning curve as the various dimensions of the
Declaration are being explored. Many academics have produced voluminous books
on these questions but more ground has to be prepared before setting up of a UN
working group on drafting a convention. In my opinion, we should not try to
rush the elaboration of a Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief,
especially not in times of high tensions and unpreparedness. - UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Asma Jahangir, Prague
25 Year Anniversary Commemoration of the 1981 UN Declaration, 25 November 2006.

Option: After forty years this may be the time,
however complex and sensitive, for the United Nations Human Rights Council to
appoint an Open-ended Working Group to draft a United Nations Convention on
Freedom of Religion or Belief. The mandate for an Open-ended Working Group
ought to assure nothing in a draft Convention will be construed as restricting
or derogating from any right defined in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights, and the 1981 UN
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.

Concept:Separation of Religion or
Belief and State – SOROBAS. The First Preamble to the 1948 United Nations
Universal Declaration of Human Rights; “Whereasrecognition ofthe inherent
dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human
family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.This concept suggests States recalling their history,
culture and constitution adopt fair and equal human rights protection for all
religions or beliefs as described in General Comment 22 on Article 18,
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, UN Human Rights
Committee, 20 July 1993
(CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4):

Article
18: protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not
to profess anyreligion or belief.
The terms belief and religion are to be broadly construed. Article 18 is not
limited in its application to traditional religions or to religions and beliefs
with international characteristics or practices analogous to those of
traditional religions. The Committee therefore views with concern any tendency
to discriminate against any religion or belief for any reasons, including the
fact that they are newly established, or represent religious minorities that
may be the subject of hostility by a predominant religious community. Article 18: permits restrictions to manifest a religion or
belief only if such limitations are prescribed by law and necessary to protect
public safety, order, health or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms
of others.

Separation of Religion or
Belief and State

The Tandem Project Concept, Separation
of Religion or Belief and State (SOROBAS) supports
the U.N. Human Rights Council in their responsibility to monitor implementation
of the 1981 U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and
of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. The Tandem Project using
international human rights law reviews the actions of governments and civil
society living under separation of church and state, state church, theocratic
or other legal frameworks. The concept is equal and fair protection for all theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not
to profess any religion or belief in tandem with the rule of law and
international human rights standards on freedom of religion or belief.

Inter-religious, inter-cultural dialogues focus on
fundamental values shared virtually universally by public, private, religious
and non-religious organizations to change how our cultures views differences,
how we often behave toward one another and to forestall the reflexive hostility
we see so vividly around the world. Surely one of the best hopes for the future
of humankind is to embrace a culture in which religions and other beliefs
accept one another, in which wars and violence are not tolerated in the name of
an exclusive right to truth, in which children are raised to solve conflicts
with mediation, compassion and understanding.

Dialogue & Education

Dialogue: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki
Moon, at the Alliance of Civilizations Madrid Forum said; “Never in our
lifetime has there been a more desperate need for constructive and committed
dialogue, among individuals, among communities, among cultures, among and
between nations.” A writer in another setting has said, “The warning signs are
clear: unless we establish genuine dialogue within and among all kinds of
belief, ranging from religious fundamentalism to secular dogmatism, the
conflicts of the future will probably be even more deadly.”

International Human Rights Standards on Freedom of
Religion or Belief are international human rights law and universal codes of
conduct for peaceful cooperation, respectful competition and resolution of
conflicts. The standards are a platform for genuine dialogue on core principles
and values within and among nations, all religions and other beliefs.

Education: AmbassadorPiet de Klerk addressing the
Prague 25 Year Anniversary Commemoration of the 1981 U.N. Declaration said;
“Our educational systems need to provide children with a broad orientation:
from the very beginning, children should be taught that their own religion is
one out of many and that it is a personal choice for everyone to adhere to the
religion or belief by which he or she feels most inspired, or to adhere to no
religion or belief at all.”

The 1981 U.N. Declaration states; “Every child shall
enjoy the right to have access to education in the matter of religion or belief
in accordance with the wishes of his parents, and shall not be compelled to
receive teaching on religion or belief against the wishes of his parents, the
best interests of the child being the guiding principle.” With International
Human Rights safeguards, early childhood education is the best time to begin to
teach tolerance, understanding and respect for freedom of religion or belief.